Trends come, and trends go. As artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) have been getting all of the attention lately, technology such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has simmered down.
Now, Kevin Hart is one of many who have experienced one of the pitfalls that come with blockchain technology.
In January 2022, the actor and comedian reportedly bought a Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible token (NFT) for 79.5 ETH or $200,401 in a deal facilitated by MoonPay, a cryptocurrency marketplace, as previously shared by AFROTECH™. The reported purchase was at a time when numerous celebrities such as Hip Hop artist Snoop Dogg and NBA player Stephen Curry were securing the once popular company’s digital tokens.
Hart reportedly sold his NFT on March 25, 2024, for 13.65 ETH, which equates to $47,000 — significantly less than his original purchase of over $200,000 — per ZyCrypto. The outlet described the reported sale as an “81% discount.”
Canadian singer Justin Bieber faced a similar experience with NFT devaluation. According to Decrypt, after purchasing a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT for $1.3 million in the same timeframe as Hart, its worth drastically dropped to $69,000 by November 2022.
As previously shared by AFROTECH™, this particular NFT fell after the cryptocurrency market crash due to the blockchains TerraUSD and Luna. What’s more, the company’s NFTs were said to have depreciated to around $60,000.
In September 2023, dappGambl shared that “the vast majority of NFTs are worthless.” Its study was based on a comprehensive analysis of over 73,000 NFT collections.
“Of the 73,257 NFT collections we identified, an eye-watering 69,795 of them have a market cap of 0 Ether (ETH),” the report found. “This statistic effectively means that 95% of people holding NFT collections are currently holding onto worthless investments. Having looked into those figures, we would estimate that 95% to include over 23 million people whose investments are now worthless.”
While Hart is said to have suffered a loss with his NFT, his countless other investments remain intact. As previously shared by AFROTECH™, the businessman had a reported net worth of $200 million in early 2022, which has increased to $450 million at the time of this writing, per Celebrity Net Worth.
Hart can credit his wealth to investments in companies such as Hungry, Hydrow, Tommy John, Black Sands Entertainment, and others. He also owns a tequila brand, Gran Coramino, and a plant-based, fast-food restaurant, Hart House.
